The Dreams of a World Beyond Us
by evil-sami-poo
Summary: Sleep well, Harry Potter," she said as she felt his heartbeat slow beneath her fingers. "May your dreams be filled with love and great joy." And they were. But all dreams come to an end, as Harry meets a lost Anthony Potter, his twin brother.


This is a re-write of my other story Wandering Soul. WS will not be abandoned.

* * *

Harry Potter stumbled through the battlefield which had once been the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He tried to get away from all the bodies, the bodies of his family, his friends, his love. He ignored the arms of the ministry wizards as he reached the edge of the Black Lake. The armies from both the dark and the light side fell silent as Harry wept over the body of Thomas Marvolo Riddle. He had lost his life, his humanity in the darkness of battle, he was no longer Harry Potter, the great hero. He was simply a man, a man whose soul was destined to wander until he found his way home.

…

It was a little girl who rescued him, she had been separated from her housemates when the war broke out. Luckily, she found a place to hide where none of the Death Eaters could find her. When she heard the cheers of victory she had stepped out to see the ministry wizards smiling and congratulating each other. But it fell silent when they watched their saviour weep over his enemy's body.

Anita Temps wove through the crowds, completely ignored by everyone else until she reached Harry Potter and bent down next to him. He looked up at her with broken green eyes and she smiled, sadly and honestly.

"Thank you," whispered Anita. She held out her small hand and together, she and Harry Potter stood up. She led him through the crowds, as they parted in respect for the Chosen One. She looked up at Professor Sprout as she went past, and although she didn't know it at the time, Anita Temps would go down in the history, the legends of the Hufflepuff house for being among the bravest, kindest and most pure-hearted Hufflepuffs to grace the halls of Hogwarts.

Anita led Harry through the halls of Hogwarts, past the classrooms that were once filled with laughter, past the portraits that bowed their heads respectively, past the young students who had snuck out to of their dormitories to see what had happened, to see who had won. She led him up stairs until they reached the Hospital Wing.

Anita pushed Harry down onto the bed and went to get a small bowl of water and a cloth to wash his face with. She dabbed his face gently until the dirt and sweat from battle began to fade away and the water turned brown. He stared blankly at the ceiling as she washed away the remnants of what he had lost.

"I'm sorry for your loss, though I can't begin to understand it," the eleven year old whispered. "But I do know that they would be happy that you managed to defeat them."

"I miss them," Harry said brokenly. "It's my fault they died."

"No it's not, it's _his_ fault. It was never your fault." Her voice was soothing and Harry smiled his own sad smile before drifting into unconsciousness. "Sleep well, Harry Potter," she said as she felt his heartbeat slow and eventually stop beneath her fingers. "May your dreams be filled with love and great joy." She placed the cloth down and pressed her lips to his forehead as the only other patient in the Hospital Wing looked on silently.

"He will," Draco said confidently. The Hufflepuff turned in shock when she saw the blond boy who had his own sad smile. "Good luck, Anita Temps."

…

When Harry heard a rustle his eyes immediately snapped open. He sat up and turned to the perpetrator, only to see a guilty looking Dudley Dursley standing in the centre of the room.

"Damn," Dudley exclaimed. "Here I was hoping I'd be able to hide it this year."

"Hide what?" Harry asked stupidly. He was still in shock about the fact that Dudley Dursley was standing in front of him, last he had checked, the Dursley family had moved to America when Kingsley had arranged for a way to keep them safe. Dudley smiled and nodded.

"That's the spirit. I was never here!" he said jovially before backing out of the room. "All right, I was never here!" Harry got up with a surprised expression on his face, he waved his hands, searching for the magic of this illusion, but he could only feel his own magic.

"What is going on?" he whispered as he walked across the room. It was the room that he had lived in from his eleventh birthday until he moved out, but it was different. It seemed to be lived in, as if it wasn't just Dudley's spare bedroom, but rather Harry's bedroom.

There were no Gryffindor banners on the walls, no pictures of his parents or of Hedwig. He was surprised to see there was a photo of him, Dudley and Neville, he didn't even think that Neville would come within thirty feet of Dudley without self-combusting, and vice versa. There was a photo of him when he was a child in front of the Christmas tree with a huge grin on his face. He picked it up and turned it over to see that there was writing on the back that said _Harry's First Christmas_.

He turned to the clock which read 9:03 and realised with a start that his glasses were next to the clock. He touched his face and laughed when he realised he could see without his glasses. He changed into some muggle clothes that he found on a chair and began to walk down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Good morning," Petunia said before turning. Harry froze at the horrified look on her face, thinking maybe now he was waking up from a long dream that made him think that he had defeated Voldemort, when in reality he hadn't. "Harry! For God's sake, is that yesterday's clothes?" He sniffed himself and pulled away with a horrified look.

"Yes?"

"Sweetie, I know that today is your birthday, but please wear clean clothes at least today!" she begged as she tossed some pancakes. "Before your father comes downstairs."

"Sure," he whispered. He backed out of the room and jumped when he walked into the solid front of Vernon Dursley. He winced and turned around to apologise when he was confronted with the laughing face of his Uncle.

"How's the birthday boy? Are you looking forward to your big day out?" He was happy and his belly jiggled as he laughed.

"He won't be getting one if he doesn't go upstairs and change!" Petunia called from the kitchen. Vernon gave a small laugh and stepped aside to let his nephew past.

...

Harry slammed the door shut and looked at the room, this time taking in what was in the room. He saw his school folders were muggle and labelled with Harry James Potter [Harry Dursley], but there were some magical influences. He walked over to a crinkled piece of paper which he discovered bore his OWLs results. He took of the clothes and pulled on a pair of cargo pants that looked clean enough and a black shirt that made him feel as if he was from some spy movie. At the front of his mind though, he felt that the clothes would have been a good choice during the war.

"Harry?" Petunia said as she knocked on the door. "Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah," he called, still staring at the photo of Neville and Dudley.

"Sweetheart, I was wondering if you had considered my option to go to Hogwarts for NEWTs. You can't keep being taught magic from home, Mrs Longbottom is getting old and she can't deal with the stress of your NEWTs on top of what you are doing at the moment.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. He liked this dream of his, but was he ready to see the place where so many people he cared about had died.

"You have to face the Potter family one day," she said quietly. "What they did was never your fault, you have to make the decision to face them and find out why." Harry stiffened, his family was alive? What was going on? The doorbell rang and Petunia got up with a sigh. "Tell me what you think at the end of the day." She walked out of the room with a soft smile and headed down to open the door for the visitors.

Harry lay down on his bed and looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember what had happened. He remembered the warmth of a small hand that he had held onto after the pain. He remembered lying down, then he remembered nothing. The bedroom door opened and he sat up and turned to see Neville standing in front of him. Suddenly, all Harry could see was the bloodied body of Neville Longbottom staring defiantly at Bellatrix Lestrange before the light faded from his eyes. The bathroom swum before him as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He wasn't ready for this.

"Harry!" Neville called worriedly as he watched his friend collapsed. He ran over to Harry and checked his vitals with a look of concern on his face. Luckily it didn't take long for Harry to regain consciousness. "Are you okay?"

"Not so loud," Harry muttered. "I can't hear myself think." He rubbed his scar subconsciously and Neville caught his friends arm in his hand and looked at the words that were etched into his skin. _I must not tell lies_.

"Harry? Is that you?" Neville traced the letters slowly. He reached into his back pocket and pointed his wand at the green-eyed man right on the tip of his nose. He was suddenly wary and every inch the soldier that Neville Longbottom had been in Harry's world. "What is your name?"

"Harry James Potter."

"What's my boggart?"

"Snape." Neville withdrew his wand and blinked in shock.

"Impossible," Neville breathed.

"What is?" Harry asked confused.

"You aren't the Harry from this world. You are the Harry from my original world, or at least one closer to my world than this." Neville's face broke into a smile. "What happened? Did you win?"

"They're dead Neville, every single one of them died," Harry whispered brokenly.

Neville sighed once he had written the letter to Dumbledore, asking for the chance to accept their placement in Hogwarts. Harry remained tight lipped about what had happened during the war, it was obviously something that still hurt Harry. Neville didn't know what had happened, but he decided that the best option would be to let Harry choose what he wanted to do.

Harry had decided to go to Hogwarts in the hope to see the ones that he had lost in their previous world. But Neville was still a bit hesitant about letting Harry go there, he knew that it would only bring hurt to Harry, going to that school. But he also knew that Harry needed it right now. He walked into the kitchen of the Dursley house to find Harry had the Scrabble set out.

"Did you know that Voldemort could have used Dr Tim Moove Lolard, Mr Dodol Ram Violet or Lt Movem Raid Drool instead of Lord Voldemort?" he whispered brokenly. Neville walked over to his friend and squeezed his friend's shoulder.

"I found a name for you to use at Hogwarts, it's Harrison Jim Devans," Petunia said with a smile. "With Lily and James working there, we have to be careful with what you called, otherwise they may do something like use you to boost their popularity." Harry nodded at his 'mother's' words and stood up with a silent look of reflection on his face as he walked out of the house.

"What's wrong with Harry?" Dudley asked as his brother pushed past.

"He needs to think," Neville said sadly.

...

Harry kept walking, out of Privet Drive, through Magnolia Crescent until he found himself at the Park where he first saw Sirius. He sat on the swing and pushed back and forward with a contemplative look on his face.

"You look as bad as I feel," an amused voice came from behind Harry. Harry turned to see Remus Lupin leaning on the pole. "Sorry to intrude."

"No problem." It took Harry a moment to realise that Remus didn't know who he was. "What's your problem?"

"I find it hard to gain employment, but a very good opportunity had arisen for me."

"Why don't you take it?"

"Because I detest some of my potential co-workers, they betrayed me and the person I loved the most. Now I can't bring myself to face them anymore." Harry knew that Remus was talking about James and Lily, but he didn't know why.

"Why do you detest them?"

"Well, you can never guess what one is thinking, the other seems to change personality every ten minutes and the last one has never been the same since discovered it." The prophecy, Harry had suspected as much. "They, they abandoned my Godson." Harry stumbled off the swing at that. He had expected everything, from being stolen from them to having run away. He never thought that they would have abandoned him.

"Then, maybe you should face them. Confront them, prove to them that you're better than them," Harry hissed mostly to himself.

"You're right, I need to talk to Dumbledore and take this job." Remus was determined and it made Harry feel better.

...

_Dear Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Devans,_

_It would be my pleasure to have the two of you coming to Hogwarts for your 7th and final year of official schooling. Here is a list of teachers for the subjects you are taking:_

_Minerva McGonagall, James Potter and Sirius Black (Transfiguration)  
Professor Sprout (Herbology)  
Filius Flitwick and Lily Potter (Charms)  
Severus Snape and Sirius Black (Potions)  
Remus Lupin and James Potter (DADA)_

_As you can see the teachers for Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and DADA are shared classes. This is now ministry protocol in order to protect a certain student. Your booklist has not been issued yet unfortunately but you should get it within the week._

_Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster._

Harry read the letter that had been dropped off a day after he had seen Remus and smiled when he saw that Remus had taken the job, he deserved it. Harry was going back to Hogwarts, after so long and Harry wasn't sure if he should be scared or not. He passed the note to Neville and swirled the cereal in his bowl, avoiding the eyes of Petunia and Dudley and just concentrating on what was going on.

"She, she died for me," he spoke up suddenly. The two muggles looked on in confusion as Harry said the words that had been haunting him for nights. "She took one for me, hoping for a better world. A better world that started from I had begun. Why did he have to kill so many? Why did they all have to die?"

"Oh Sweetie, was it bad dream?" the naïve Petunia crooned. Neville simply reach over and held onto his friend's hand, giving his own silent comfort.

...

It was five days later when they left for Diagon Alley with an enthusiastic Augusta Longbottom. Despite having a son who trained regularly with magic, the Dursley family were sufficiently surprised when the alley appeared in front of their eyes. Mrs. Longbottom cleared her throat.

"Well, we better get started." She started walking, leading the group down the alley to Gringotts. When they entered Mrs. Longbottom took them straight to a goblin. Petunia gasped when she saw it.

"Oh good Lord," she muttered. Harry took her hand, squeezed it and gave her a reassuring smile. She smiled back at the 17-year-old boy before they realized that the group was leaving with a goblin. They followed the goblin and all got in a cart. Mrs. Longbottom turned around with a smirk on her face.

"Hold on to your stomachs," she said with a cackle that was akin to her ancestors back when Macbeth was crowned King. Harry shivered at her tone of voice. Neville lent in and whispered in his ear.

"Gran likes these things way too much for a woman of her age." Harry just nodded in agreement as the ride started.

...

2 minutes later found Mrs. Longbottom looking happy but everyone else staggering towards the vault. Mrs. Longbottom giggled before the goblin opened the vault. She retrieved two bags of money, handed one to Harry and one to Neville before leading them back to the cart. Harry turned and looked at the Dursley's, he nearly laughed when he realised they were ashen white.

"Is there another way Augusta?" Vernon asked, sounding sufficiently scared.

"Sorry Vernon. This is the only way to get in and around the vaults!" Mrs. Longbottom announced.

"Nev? How much sugar did your Gran have in her coffee today?" Dudley asked.

"Never mind that Dudley! How much coffee did you have today, Augusta?" Petunia sobbed hysterically. Harry looked at Neville before they both cracked up into laughter on the way back, with the Dursley's faces green as they took the twisted path back to the surface.

...

Harry trailed behind the larger group, taking in Diagon Alley for what seemed like the first time in his life. He knew that he was a mix of who the Harry had been in this world and the Harry he was back in his original world, both in personality and in appearance. The Harry Dursley who had lived in Surrey his whole life had never experienced war, but Harry Potter could see the signs at the corner of his eyes, in the tremble he couldn't control in his grip and the invisible scars on his body that had faded in the transition to this new world.

People didn't recognise him anymore, he wasn't the image of James Potter, nor was he the saviour of their world. He was a boy who was buying his school books, he was a boy who had to buy a new school uniform, he was a boy who was simply just a boy.

Petunia and Vernon had never been that interested in books, but they were in utter awe when they saw Flourish and Blotts and the books that lined the walls. Harry spun around slowly, remembering the second time he had ever walked into the building, it had been packed with the press and people. Somehow, it made him laugh now, the memories about what he used to do when he was so young.

Draco Malfoy stood at the top of the stairs, as disinterested as he had been when Harry last ran into the boy in the shop. He was thumbing through a book of what Harry knew had to be a children's book from the illustration on the front. He knew that Draco didn't know who he was in this world, and thought that he could just maybe make a difference that way.

He stepped up the stairs until he was eye level with the blond male and smiled. The other boy closed the book and surveyed the other boy with a sharper look than Harry had ever seen on his face.

"Hi, I'm Harry Devans," he said with a smile. "Do you go to Hogwarts?"

"Noir, Draco. I'm a Gryffindor in the seventh year," Draco said with a smirk. Harry nodded slowly, though inside he was freaking out more than he had done when Sirius had died. "Are you going to join us or something?"

"Yes," Harry stuttered out.

"Awesome. You look like a Gryff, hopefully I'll see you there." Draco picked up another book and weighed it in his hand as he talked to Harry. "Though, just a bit advice: don't get drawn in by Potter's fame."

"What?"

Draco smiled once – an expression Harry was not used to on the male – and put the book down. He gave Harry another look that clearly said: 'I'll see you around' before he started down the stairs. At the bottom stood a brunette with curly hair, which Harry recognised as Hermione Granger. He watched them talk before Hermione struck Draco firmly on the hand and ran up to where Harry was standing.

"Sorry about my boyfriend, he's too rude. If you and your friend would like to join us on the train ride to Hogwarts, just go to the compartment at the back of the train. We are normally in that one." And with that, she smiled once more and walked back down.

Harry had thought that seeing Hermione smile again would hurt so much more than it did. But it didn't, it was comfortable, it was like everything that had gone wrong had just gotten that little bit better. He ran his fingers through his hair and made his way down the stairs, thinking maybe everything would be alright. It was only later when he realised that he had never told Draco that he wasn't the only one that was going to Hogwarts.

As he left the bookshop Harry decided to buy some lining for his new owl's cage and his new cat's litter basket, so he bought the Daily Prophet. He frowned when he read the headline and opened the large paper with a look of shock at the accompanying photo.

There were four people in the photo, a teenaged boy with his parents and his godfather, by the looks of it. The boy had a scar that ran down his cheek, Harry supposed that it was no longer a scar that made people repulsed, but rather a scar that made people interested. It was the scar of the Chosen One. One male looked comforting, whilst the other looked blankly ahead before occasionally turning to glare at his wife. But it was that wife that made Harry the most nervous, the way she stared defiantly upwards, soaking in the attention. It didn't suit Lily Potter's face.

_Perfect Potter Family… or not?_

_Written by Rita Skeeter _

_Today this reporter was assigned yet again, to meet the Potter's at Diagon Alley for their weekly shopping trip. However the conference was cut short when this reporter saw Mr. James Potter shoot an intense look of hatred at his wife of 20 years and left with his friend, Sirius Black._

_Mrs. Lily Potter then told the reporters that Mr. James Potter never got over the loss of Harry James Potter who disappeared exactly 13 years ago in unknown circumstances. This reporter has deducted that Mr. James Potter may have blamed his wife for the loss of young Harry, who would have attended his final year Hogwarts with his twin brother Anthony Daniel Potter if he was with his family._

_Mrs. Lily Potter disclosed with this reporter that Anthony's training is going well and is expected to do great things. However, could young Harry also have done these great things? This reporter is determined to find out._

_More page 12_

"I have a brother?" Harry breathed out slowly.

* * *

What do we think of this compared to the original? Hope you enjoy, please take the time to let me know!


End file.
